Yes, but you walk a thin line in the first argument because we can consider Magic Johnson as a versatile big as well, Lebron versatility does not make him a "2 way big" as Scalma meant. The 2nd argument is not really relevant to the discussion because i never said you don't need good Centers or Power Forwards to win a championship. Gasol and Green were supporting players for Kobe and Curry. The discussion was about superstar 2way bigs are always > superstar guards.
Incorrect. I do not expect that from them at all, and I’m not sure where that has even been suggested. I said he can’t play alongside our two best players and he doesn’t address our biggest need (at SF), because if he is a ‘all star’ there is no way you’re only playing him 20 minutes a night (per your rotation), and if you want to extend his minutes into the 30s, as you would with an all star, he simply wouldn’t fit with this team because we cannot play 3 6’4 players together, especially for extended minutes; thus, you would have to cut CJs and Dames minutes even further as it’s not a realistic lineup to trot out. I notice you conveniently dropped your argument about Durant, Harden, and Westbrook when noted that it probably would’ve made a ton of sense for them to trade one of them if they were all midgets. Collins can play alongside our three best players and addressed a major need at the time. A third guard doesn’t move the needle for this team, unless said guard is a defensive savant and can guard MONSTERS at small forward. Donovan Mitchell, with his wing span and all, is not guarding Paul George, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard.
Bigs are reliant upon little guys; but little guys need big guys to win, IMO. I’d wager it’s easier for Anthony Davis to win a championship with a B level PG than it would be for Lillard to win a championship with a B level big, given equal rosters. In essence, Solid guard play gives you a higher floor and lower ceiling, imo. Solid big play, low floor, high ceiling - if you can find a PG. If guards won chips Allen Iverson would have a couple, not Shaq and Kobe.
I disagree. Magic infamously filled in for Kareem in the Finals, but he never matched up against bigs after that. Pippen would check him to negate the size advantage, but Pippen guarded lots of PGs, so that doesn't mean much. LeBron came into the league as a SG, plays mostly SF, and has been the PF on the Olympic team. He's as tall as most PFs (like Magic) and can out-muscle pretty much any big (unlike Magic). Think of it this way. If you could field a team of any player at each position, selecting the same player multiple times, would you have Magic anywhere but PG? Probably not. But, a lineup with LeBron at SG, SF, and PF would be hard to pass up.
Olajuwan...we had Drexler so...a big would've been the move....nobody at the time thought Jordan would be what he turned out to be.
If I remember right Curry nursed bum ankles before Draymond showed up...he was injured a lot early on
Not true. Bob Knight (his Olympic coach) saw it coming. Surely you've heard of his pre-draft conversation with Blazer GM Stu Inman: "I was standing next to my friend as we watched us practice and I said, 'You're luckier than anybody could be in basketball, you have a chance to get Jordan,'" Knight said. "He said, 'Yeah, Bob, he's great, but we need a big man.' And I told him, 'Play Jordan at center and he'll lead the league in scoring. He's that good.'"
well I'm sure somebody did but at the time it wasn't a position of need....and I still think Alajuwon would be the choice at that time.
Did you not read Knight's quote? His point was that talent trumps positional need (an axiom that is as true now as it was then), and Jordan's talent was superior to all others', irrespective of position.
Nope....just remember the time and my logic would've still taken Alajuwon...don't see how that's ignoring talent over position...it's adding talent at a position in my view...unlike 99% of basketball fans, I was never a huge Michael Jordan fan.....I thought he hurt the balance in the league by superstar status...after him everyone spent their cap on one or two players who were ballhogs and surrounded them with scraps..Jordan got the most ref love of any player I ever watched play...he never got T'd up for screaming at refs....never got called for obvious fouls...etc...sure he was a great competitor...I liked the Dream much more as a player and a teammate
The notion that nobody knew what Jordan was gonna be is fallacy. Especially after hitting the game winning shot.
My point wasn't that scouts didn't know Jordan was special...it's that nobody knew he'd dominate like he did....Hakeem was pretty special as well...Jordan was packaged .....movie deal.....biggest star since Ali in sports....that's what I don't think people saw coming when he was drafted....Bowie was also a really gifted player with a time bomb knee...but a special talent...I think people make more out of that draft than they should
I wish we could go back in time and slap some sense into people. It's true that most people undervalued Jordan at the time, but there are enough of those accounts, and enough evidence of just how good he was already, it should have been an easy pick if people weren't blinded by the "need a big" doctrine. Hell, I just saw some stat the other day about Bill Cartwright, of all people, having some of the most historic stats as a rookie. I thought he was always a journeyman... The point being, you take the safe pick when there's greatness available, and worry about filling in the gaps later. Don't gamble on a big with an injury history. And yes, I was in support of the Oden pick. Although, I would have felt differently had the info been made available before the draft about his leg dangling from his hip when he was a kid...
